Why is Veterinary Physiotherapy important for racehorses?
Racehorses, as athletes, often suffer from injuries, muscle soreness and strains which negatively impact performance on the racetrack. Through the use of both manual therapy and electrotherapy, veterinary physiotherapy can help reduce the recovery time of a horse post-injury and mitigate against further potential career-ending injury. Slight restrictions in movement can give the opposition the final furlong needed to win, but through regular physiotherapy, soft tissues such as muscle can be kept free from stiffness, leading to an increased range of motion in the stride length of a horse in gallop. Studies have proven that equine physiotherapy can reduce pain, improve locomotion and aid in healing, all of which work towards producing horses capable of performing to the best of their ability (Hesse and Verheyen, 2010).
A horse which has a tendon injury can often take 6-12 months to return to the track depending on the serverity of the injury, if they even return at all. The problem with tendons and ligaments are that they are made up of lovely parallel collagen fibres which are full of elastic properties to support the joints when horses are galloping. On soft surfaces, these tendons are put under more strain due to the increased drop of the fetlocks in in canter and gallop. On hard surfaces, the bones are at greater risk of developing micro fractures as there is a lack of support to the distal limb shock-absorbers. Imagine now if one of those shock absorbers have developed thick scar tissue, where there is less give in the tendon and even more strain down into the distal limb. This is where horses will then be at risk of breaking down and developing a chronic lameness.
However! All is not lost… There are physiotherapy machines which can actually help re-align the collagen fibres and reduce the build up of scar tissue. The therapeutic ultrasound has been proven in many research papers to improve healing and have a greater effect of returning the horse to a normal workload as the tendons have retained more elasticity (Kidtiwong et al, 2022; Accut et al, 2021). Therapeutic laser therapy has also been found to help promote bloodflow to the tendon and stimulate quicker, more effective healing. Tendons have a very poor blood supply, which is why they are so difficult to heal, produce scar tissue and often re-injure. Laser therapy is non-invasive and well tolerated by horses meaning it can be used on even the most tender of horses (Pluim, et al 2022). A recent study has proven that laser can reduce pain, limb swelling and lameness associated with the tendon injury which in effect can help the horse in a support to return to work (Zeilinska, et al 2020).
Of course there are other injuries alongside general maintenance needed for horses to reach their full potential. Physiotherapy can be used to help increase muscle tone and improve range of motion which will help improve the horses stride length. Contact us today to find out more!
Hesse, K.L. and Verheyen, K.L.P., 2010. Associations between physiotherapy findings and subsequent diagnosis of pelvic or hindlimb fracture in racing Thoroughbreds. Equine veterinary journal, 42(3), pp.234-239.
Kidtiwong, A., Issariyodom, P., Pirunsan, U., Lampang, K.N. and Rungsri, P., 2022. Superficial digital flexor tendinitis treatment using high-intensity laser therapy and therapeutic ultrasound in polo ponies: https://doi. org/10.12982/VIS. 2022.020. Veterinary Integrative Sciences, 20(2), pp.253-266.
Acutt, E.V., Contino, E.K., Frisbie, D.D. and Barrett, M.F., 2021. Deep digital flexor tendon lesions in the pastern are associated with the presence of distal tendinopathy. Equine Veterinary Journal.
Zielińska, P., Nicpoń, J., Kiełbowicz, Z., Soroko, M., Dudek, K. and Zaborski, D., 2020. Effects of high intensity laser therapy in the treatment of tendon and ligament injuries in performance horses. Animals, 10(8), p.1327.
Pluim, M., Heier, A., Plomp, S., Boshuizen, B., Gröne, A., van Weeren, P.R., Vanderperren, K., Martens, A., Dewulf, J., Chantziaras, I. and Koene, M., 2022. Histological tissue healing following high‐power laser treatment in a model of suspensory ligament branch injury. Equine Veterinary Journal.
